: In the good ol' USA, we tax the crap out of everyone and make a little more than we spend, but we use this money to baloon social programs,

SDF: Actually the primary culprit in the increase in the size of government is the military, who got half of every dollar I sent to the IRS last year. Of the amount that counts as "welfare," corporate welfare adds up to being more than allotments to individuals. Of course, the tie-in between corporations and corporate welfare is clear -- they're only getting a return on their investment, i.e. good old fashioned capitalism. All you need to see is who's contributing to whom and you can tell where the money is going.

That having been said, the rate of taxation in the US is much lower than in practically every industrialized country. Check it out!